In the context of culture of fear, fear of the unknown is another, maybe the base for other sub-fears. People fear the most the things that they are not able to understand or cannot envision in their minds properly. In the modern era, both the men and women are encompassed by the sea of constantly changing and evolving concepts. Corey Robin states in his book Fear: The History of a Political Idea that “fear is supposed to lurk beyond the reach of our rational faculties, preternatural invader waiting to breach the borders of civilization” (39). Considering Russel’s very optimistic vision about the future under the guidance of the scientific knowledge, the humanity today, is somewhere far off from the projected trajectory. Instead of conquering the fear that had enslaved individuals through baseless fears, they opened their doors to a different kind of fear, and that is the fear itself. As humanity, people might have dealt with the dogmatic, mythical fears; however, today they have found themselves amid yet another school of fears. In Liquid Fear, Bauman cites from the Book of Job to illustrate the humanity, especially the western societies, have become subjugated to that fearful environment rather easily after it acquired the form of culture. It has spread every corner, become a philosophy of life, a standing point and a guidance to avert all kinds of threats.
This began in the 20th century when everything started to change its form in an accelerating manner. Ever since humanity is in this condition encapsulated within.
Quoted in Sources of European History: Since 1900, French poet Paul Valéry summarizes the general state of mind back in those times “[a]lmost all the affairs of men remain in a terrible uncertainty. We think of what has disappeared, and we are almost destroyed by what has been destroyed; we do not know what will be born, and we fear the future, not without reason….” (78). Fear was there and it is still present, it
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guides people in this uncertain universe with all its disadvantages. The fact that people don’t know what will be born rooted in people’s minds makes them ever-more aversive and obsesses with security. Thus, the future has become fearful because it is the unknown.
The capacity and the authority that people have over the knowledge has been a very important asset throughout the history of humankind. However, due to the unprecedented discoveries and the fearful perspective towards them, today, people are losing their faith on the knowledge. Füredi explains that this “scepticism about humankind's ability to anticipate outcomes is often based on the proposition that we simply don't have the time to catch up with the fast and far-reaching consequences of modern technological developments” (loc.1532). Therefore, people regard themselves drifting away from that haven. Having a control over the knowledge is a positive aspect against the fear of the unknown. Besides, it is the sole saviour of humankind as was prophesied by Bertrand Russel. Unfortunately, considering the recent tendency, this field is no longer the only thing that contemporary men and women can count on. The darkness in the sense of what the individuals do or do not know is growing steadily.
Consequently, the domain of the unknown has enlarged its scope of fearful effect.
It is quite natural to fear the unknown but stepping down and staying away from them is a huge drawback for humanity. In this respect the emotion of fear in self-propelled motion increases its sphere of influence. As H. P. Lovecraft begins his essay
“Supernatural Horror in Literature,“ “[t]he oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown,” this bears a remarkable significance both because it is very powerful and also it is pretty abundant in a liquid world where uncertainty and ambivalence set loose. Everything is so fast to change its shape generating new unknowns to know and to discard as time goes by. In
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this sense, in Ali Taylor’s Overspill (2008) the idea of the unknown and the notion of imminent danger have a governing aspect. In this representation of modern age fears and anxieties, along with the fear of national security, fear of the unknown has an imperative role.
In Overspill, there are three male characters; Potts, Finch and Baron. These three guys are on a routine Friday night activity where they go to Mc Donald’s and to a pub to drink something. The play progresses as a rhythmical pantomime; characters tell their story, assuming the roles of other characters that have a role in their story. They begin their night as usual and go to Mc Donald’s as their first destination. While the things are progressing routinely, they hear a sound of an explosion and that will change the course of the flow of their story. In the beginning, everything in their storyline reflects a pristine, calm and in order as usual. However, as it turns out, this is not for too long.
Baron describes it:
BARON: And we take a table, rest on it casual Restin’ arms, elbows, fags and mobile Survey the public, the Bromley public All pushing, jostling, shouting happy. (loc. 175)
As everything is on its usual course, while they are having their drinks, Finch points to another person who has a shady appearance according to their description. He has a black outfit and Finch refers to hem “Mr. Matrix”. Thus, a stranger enters their story.
He is a man of unknown origin, but at first, they do not have any kind of negative assumption about him. However, as time goes by, Finch voices his thoughts about the night pointing out his suspicion:
POTTS: Get on with the story BARON: Three pints!
POTTS: Three pints!
BARON: Finch, three pints They get no response. Finch?
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FINCH: It’s weird out there. Loads of police POTTS: That cos it’s Bromley, Friday night FINCH: No. Different
POTTS: Really different?
FINCH: Yeah
POTTS: Like a night with your mum not sucking me off!
FINCH: Mate, you’re dead!
POTTS makes a blow-job action as FINCH walks towards him. At that moment, there is a faint noise of an explosion in the distance.
What was that? (loc. 224-240)
The first explosion draws their attention, but they do not think of it as a disastrous incident. Baron and Potts say that it might be the sound of a plane or fireworks or a thunder. Then they immerse in their story. However, all the calmness in the air is destroyed by another and louder sound of an explosion:
BARON: …Glass bursts in stars, A shower of light
Dust and ash, dust and ash Dust blooms
In a cloud of dust and glass
FINCH: Turns us all to balls of arms Turns, turns, turns us over
POTTS: As the screams turn From cries to cries of silence BARON: Then
POTTS: Then FINCH: Out out
BARON: Am on the pavement Lights flashing Sirens?
POTTS: Fall and I’m on me knees
118 FINCH: On his feet. (loc. 209)
This abrupt change in the course of events in their story creates a shocking effect among the trio. They are being faced with the reality of liquid life that it is constantly on the move. The change is present in every aspect of life. Of that change, Bordoni comments that:
With the rapid pace of change that is a feature of the contemporary world – not only technological changes, but also behavioural, legal, economic, and cultural ones – the individual does not have the sensation of lasting stability.
He also perceives it as something provisional and is forced to deal with the necessary phases of adaptation on a daily basis to keep up to date, to feel part of a social system that marginalises quickly, without no regard for anyone. (State of Fear in a Liquid World, 31)
This change is of a social kind affecting the security of the given society. People are no longer able to feel properly protected. Furthermore, being exposed to that reality in a constant manner, results in the banalization of the fear. People grow to adapt that new condition and accept that this is the way of life in contemporary world it becomes their new reality. Considering that people today are more willing to trade their freedom for more security indicates that fear of terrorism is accepted as normal fear, it embedded into the main dynamics of daily life, so people must live in accordance with that fact.
This is the result of negative globalization experienced in a liquid world. The negative globalization brings all the terrors that are present in the countries far away next door.
Therefore, globalization of the terrorism is the side of effect of the globalization process. The bombs that were one exploding in a country most people even do not know where it is, now exploding in their neighbourhood.
Next day, the lads are walking around the Bromley town. This time, the place seems to have lost its previous cosy atmosphere. They tell their story and Baron describes the surrounding:
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BARON: Rains falling, from clouds huddled Above muttering
In the rain and Thunder
Turning concrete dark grey to greyer
Concrete walls and concrete pillars. (loc.323)
Out of the disturbed and violated status of the place, the tone acquires a sombre feeling to reflect that change. While they are strolling around in the aftermath of the bombing, they see that Mc Donald’s got its share from the incident: The place where they used to have their weekly meals is now almost destroyed. This reflects that the threat is evident and moves like an impending doom, capturing the town store by store. Thus, Taylor highlights the fear present in western societies.
They observe their surroundings and witness the sudden reversal of the events towards negative direction. The traces of the destruction are evident around them, the place took a big hit from the explosion and the destruction changed it significantly.
Then they found out that Baron is waiting for his girlfriend, they have their fun with the idea. After that, in their story there appears a policeman and they ask Potts to assume the role of police officer. While Potts is acting as an officer and inquiring about the yesterday’s incident, Finch sees the bloke they saw last night:
FINCH: Then, then Over his shoulder Out of plastic Steps a bloke POTTS: A bloke FINCH: The bloke?
BARON: Out the shadows
POTTS: The one from Walkabout, last night?
FINCH: The one who was watching us BARON: We see him
FINCH: All in black Eyes not moving
120 POTTS: Just standing staring BARON: I’m getting freaked man POTTS: Shivers up me spine FINCH: He starts walking
BARON: Real slow, eyes set, not flinching Pacing
Past the cordons And coming over FINCH: Coming closer
BARON: Then, says the copper:
POTTS: WHERE YOU LOOKING? WHAT YOU DONE TO BE NERVOUS ABOUT?
BARON: We done nothing!
FINCH: The bloke’s eyes set, ahead pointing, staring, walking, come for us, nearly on us now
FINCH prepares himself for a fight.
POTTS: RIGHT, YOU THREE, DOWN THE STATION BARON: His blank face
Why he got no expression?
An explosion. (loc. 517-549)
The second they see that shady figure and there goes another bomb. Everything again transforms into chaos; fear steps up into the surface. So, they begin to think that this uncanny person whose identity is unknown can be related to these bombings and insecure atmosphere.
Next day they are at Baron’s flat in Bromley. Their story continues in that flat and Finch turns on the TV while Potts as Baron’s mum objects that. On the television they see the news about the incidents:
POTTS: Just a picture on the telly
FINCH: A CCTV image, black white and real grainy
121 BARON: A face
FINCH: Shadow really
POTTS: Shadow of a suspect in the town centre Dressed in black
FINCH: The bloke from Walkabout?
BARON: Can’t tell. Too grainy FINCH: Terrorists, it says. I knew!
Told ya, didn’t I It’s like I smelt it Fuck me!
FINCH stands to leave. The boys watch him. He is surprised they’re not following him.
We gotta go back to the centre!
BARON: No way, I’m staying right here FINCH: Don’t you wanna see what’s going on?
Terrorists mate! We’ve seen the bomber.
In the flesh POTTS: Ent him FINCH: Why not?
POTTS: Lotta people wear black. Flattering colour FINCH: He was there for both explosions.
Ain’t a coincidence It’s gotta be.
No one else knows but us.
We’ll find him
BARON: Not in my story man FINCH: Ent just your story BARON: What we agreed
FINCH: We agreed nothing except tell our story. (loc.
648-665)
On that security camera, they see that suspicious person anew. A shadow like figure dressed in back. All these connotes that this person, whoever he or she is, is an
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unknown one and for this reason he can be the source of the fear and of the terrorist attacks. As mentioned by many sociologists and psychologists this attribute gives its bearer the quality of fear in relation to its corresponding environment and context. Upon deducing that the shadowy figure shown on TV is the culprit of these incidents, Finch declares that they should catch that guy since they saw his face. However, Potts as Baron’s mum objects them to go out at least her son should stay at home because it is safer than the outside:
POTTS (Normal mum’s voice.): I TOLD YA STAY HERE BE SAFE THAT’S WHY WE NOT IN LEWISHAM NO MORE YOU PROMISED YOU’D STAY OUT OF TROUBLE UNLIKE HIM (Re: FINCH).
THAT IDIOT (loc. 731)
The safety of the home is of importance here, because it signifies the safety preferences of the present-day communities. Being outside is to be near to the danger, especially considering their situation it is quite understandable to perceive it so. As Bauman’s comment on the fear that humans associate the unknown with the idea of evil is also obvious in Potts words as Baron’s mum:
POTTS: GO ON THEN GET OUT!
GO AND RUIN YOURSELF
THE DEVIL’S HERE. LET HIM TAKE YOU (loc. 796)
There is a threat outside, the effects are rather explicit, but the source is unknown. The people can only witness the consequences of its actions. In an atmosphere like this, people begin to stick to their homes to stay safe. Bordoni in his book comments on the concept of home in a fear-ridden liquid world:
The home, first and foremost, is the safe place par excellence, which we can withdraw into to defend ourselves from external threats, thanks to the physical barriers represented by walls, doors, fences, alarm systems, guard dogs, vigilantes, and, ultimately, firearms.
In modernity, private property is the equivalent of the castle or the fortified village, with ramparts and a
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drawbridge that marks the boundary between the inside and the outside, between the known and the unknown, strengthened by the cultural identity that closely binds all the members of the community. (77)
As fear becomes part of individuals’ lives, they tend to adapt to it and shape their lifestyles in accordance with it. Therefore, people isolate themselves against the threat that is supposed to be lurking outside without a trace and break. In parallel to the sociologist Andrew Szasz’s concept of “inverted quarantine” people today instead of isolating the threat, isolate themselves. Füredi comments on Szasz concept stating that:
Unlike a traditional quarantine, which seeks to isolate a disease to keep it from spreading to the public, an inverted quarantine represents the opposite impulse of people isolating themselves from the harms that they perceive as threatening them. inverted quarantine constitutes a response to the fear that the human condition is inherently unsafe. (loc. 3824-3838)
Now that the fear is ever-present in every aspect of life, it has become easier to isolate ourselves, instead of isolating the threat of that fear. Despite this, the three lads go out to find the unknown person, Potts declares “We three the lads/Out the shelter” and they go out. Here they also accept the condition of the home as a safe place with the use of the word “shelter”. They arrive at the centre and they see:
FINCH: Concrete paving covered in glass Shops either side shaking
Windows taped up tight and frightened Bunches of flowers tied to railings We keep going
BARON: Up the slope to Bromley South Station Paving covered in gum lumps like a constellation FINCH: It’s too silent, too much quiet
BARON: Feel shivers sprint up my spine Everywhere I’m looking it’s the Nameless Across the street the Nameless
There he is in front, behind and beside us Everyone is him and following us
Watching us, threatening us
All the faces, shops, windows, under lights in dark
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He’s there looking at us. (loc. 910)
Considering Baron’s feeling depiction of the figure with the name “Nameless”, he represents the fear of the unknown present in the contemporary society. The danger lurks in every corner of the daily life as Lars Svendsen puts it “[d]angerous threaten us everywhere: in dark streets and inside our homes, with strangers and with those closest to us, in nature as well as in technology, inside our bodies as well as in external forces”
(Philosophy of Fear, 11). Fear today resembles “Nameless” in the play, it has surrounded the people, captured their way of thinking. Indeed, the fear of the unknown is not a new phenomenon; its correlation with terrorist attacks is the reflection of the contemporary world’s worst-case thinking. The unknown can be good or bad, however, in the culture of fear the worst is expected all the time. Therefore, it should be averted at all cost under the guidance of risk calculation.
The unknown is associated with a person; this act also reflects the fear of stranger. About this, Bauman makes a definition in parallel to fearful liquid modernity:
The stranger is, by definition, an agent moved by intentions that one can at best guess but would never know for sure. The stranger is the unknown variable in all equations calculated when decisions about what to do and how to behave are made; and so, even when not behaving aggressively or actively resented, the presence of strangers inside the field of action is discomforting, as it makes a tall order of the task to predict the effects of action and its chances of success or failure. (“City of Fears, City of Hopes”, 28)
Since the beginning of the misfortunes the three lads have been experiencing, this stranger person follows them everywhere. Just as it is in Bauman’s description, Nameless person is unknown but understandable only via their guesses in relation to the corresponding incidents. When his or her connection with the incidents is made it became a threat to everyone. Thus, they venture forward to find him to save their neighbourhood from further catastrophes.
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While they are walking around the streets and looking for the Nameless, they come across with the Mayor. During their conversation, they play the roles of other concerned citizens as well and reflect the anxiety dominating the people. They are asking for more measures to taken and with each new face they get harsher:
Up steps a skinhead
POTTS (As skinhead.): WHY AIN’T THE POLICE ARRESTING NO ONE?
OBVIOUS WHO DONE IT
BARON: Mr Mayor fingers his collar, looking flustered POTTS (As skinhead.): WE SHOULD ROUND THE FACKERS UP
BARON: A beehive from Beckenham Steps over a tattered poster of David Beckham
POTTS (As the posh one.): I KNOW THERE’S BLOOD BUT I’VE GOT TO GO TO BARCLAYS
BARON: His dad, starts shaking, says:
POTTS: THERE WILL BE RESTRICTED ACCESS TO ARGOS AND RANDOM STOP AND SEARCHES IN JESSOPS
BARON: Sets ’em muttering like chickens clucking POTTS: THAT IT?
BARON: Screams another posh one POTTS THEY GOT TO CARRY ID
The voices from the crowd get increasingly hysterical.
BARON: PHOTO ID AT LEAST!
POTTS: BIOMETRIC
BARON: BAN ’EM FROM BUSES POTTS: (As Mayor.) NO RUCKSACKS BARON: OR GATHERING
POTTS (As Mayor.): WE’LL TAG THEM BARON: DETAIN ’EM